WAEC Marking Scheme for English Language (2024)
A common question among candidates is how does WAEC mark their papers? Knowing how WAEC mark their papers is very important as it gives you a clue as to how to answer the questions.
In this article, we’ll show you how the West African Examination Council (WAEC) English language paper is being marked. That’s not all, we’ll show you the different sections of the exams and what it entails.
Contents
WAEC English Language Marking Scheme
The WAEC English Language exams comprise of three sections – Papers 1, 2 and 3, all of which must be taken. Papers 1 and 2 will be combined in a composite paper to be taken at one sitting.
PAPER 1: Will consist of eighty multiple-choice questions, all of which should be answered within 1 hour for 80 marks.
PAPER 2: Will consist of five essay topics and a passage each to test candidates’ comprehension and summary skills. Candidates will be expected to write an essay on one of the topics and answer all the questions on Comprehension and Summary passages. The paper will last 2 hours and carry 100 marks.
PAPER 3: Will consist of sixty multiple-choice items on Test of Orals for candidates in Nigeria and Liberia, and that on Listening Comprehension for candidates in Ghana, The Gambia and Sierra Leone. All the questions will be answered in 45 minutes for 60 marks.
How is WAEC Graded?
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) is graded based on percentage. Under the new WAEC grading system, the letters A to F are used to indicate how good a result it.
- A1 = Excellent = 75% – 100% score
- B2 = Very good =70% – 74% score
- B3 = Good =65%- 69%
- C4 =Credit =60% – 64%
- C5 =Credit =55% – 59%
- C6 =Credit =50% – 54%
- D7 =Pass =45% – 49%
- E8 =Pass =40% – 45%
- F9 =Failure =0% – 44%
Explanations:
To score an A in English Language, you need to have a minimum score of 75% in the Exam. This means you need to score at least 75 per cent across all the three parts of the examination.
The greater your score the higher your grade. This explains how you are being graded in the English Exams.
RECOMMENDED: How to Pass WAEC Exams at One Sitting.
How Percentage Is Calculated
To determine the grade and percentage of candidates, all the scores across the three sections are added together. The sum is divided by the total score and multiplied by 100%.
Total Score Gotten       x   100
Total Score Available         1
Example: Assuming the total available score in 240 and I was able to score 60 in part 1, 70 in part 2 and 40 in part 3. That will sum up to 170. To calculate the percentage score?
(170÷240) x 100% = 70.83% = B2
NOTE:Â This is just an assumption score.
I believe this serves its purpose of understanding how WAEC English Language is being marked.
